Trey Burton looking forward to extended opportunity with Zach Ertz likely out Monday

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Trey Burton has three career catches. Zach Ertz had three catches in the first half on Sunday. 

So while the Eagles are likely swapping tight ends for their Week 2 matchup against the Bears because of injury, it’s not exactly a fair trade. 

While Burton, the Eagles’ third tight end, sat on Sunday because of a calf injury, Ertz emerged as one of Carson Wentz’s favorite targets in Week 1. Ertz caught six passes for 58 yards, but also suffered a first rib displacement and is seemingly unlikely to play on Monday night. 

Ertz out. Burton in.  

“I’m excited, definitely,” Burton said. “I wish all three of us could be out there. Hopefully we’ll be able to get that somewhere during the season. Really looking forward to it and wish I could have went last week, but I’m excited to go this week.”

After a stellar training camp, Burton was excited to begin his third NFL season, but suffered a calf injury in practice last Friday and after working out pregame before the Browns game, was not active. 

Now, Burton will have a chance to show what he can do in front of a national audience against the Bears. 

“Obviously, we had a plan for him last week and that didn't come to fruition,” head coach Doug Pederson said. “But again, to get a guy like Trey and his athletic ability and his ability to run and catch the ball and move him around a little bit, I'm excited. I'm excited to see what he can do.”

Burton has been a standout inside the Eagles’ building for sometime. During training camp, he caught everything that went his way and his teammates and coaches took notice. 

“I think he’s just going to continue to do what he has been doing,” Brent Celek said. “What you do on the practice field just translates into what you can do in the game. I don’t think we’ll see much difference [between practice and games].” 

Both Pederson and Celek said the game plan doesn’t change with Ertz out and Burton in, but Ertz has proven to be a top-of-the-line pass-catching tight end in the league, while Burton is a relatively unknown commodity. 

Perhaps the Eagles will try to fill the void left by Ertz with Celek, who in 2015 had 27 catches, his lowest total since 2008. 

“I’m not sure,” Celek said. “That’s up to the coaches. We’ll see.”

What we’ll probably see plenty of again in Week 2 is Matt Tobin working as a tight end. Tobin took nine snaps against the Browns working as an extra tackle/tight end. He practiced it during the week in goal line situations, but didn’t know he would work as a tight end throughout the game until after Burton got hurt. 

Tobin said he hasn’t played tight end since his high school days ... so a long time ago. 

How different is this position than playing tackle? 

“A lot different,” Tobin said. “If you know what you’re going to do at tackle, you pretty much know what you’re going to do at tight end. It’s just different. You have to listen to the personnel to know if you’re in or out and then you have to report because I have an ineligible number. You have to report eligible. And then you’re one guy removed from the center, so you have to really focus on the snap count.”

Remembering to report eligible might be difficult, Tobin said, if he didn’t have everyone on the sideline constantly reminding him. With Burton back and Ertz hurt, Tobin expects the team will continue to ask him to play the extra tight end role.

According to Burton, the toughest thing about these injuries is that the Eagles haven't been able to use the three-tight end set they worked on so much during camp. Depending on the length of time Ertz is out, it could be a while. 

“Once we get it back, we’ll be alright,” Burton said. “We’ll be fine.”

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